Nekrasov gave many years of his life to work on a poem, which he called his "favorite brainchild." “I decided,” said Nekrasov, “to state in a coherent story everything that I know about the people, everything that I happened to hear from their lips, and I started “Who should live well in Russia“. It will be the epic of modern peasant life.”
The writer accumulated material for the poem, according to his confession, "word by word for twenty years." Death interrupted this gigantic work. The poem remained unfinished. Shortly before his death, the poet said: “One thing that I deeply regret is that I did not finish my poem “Who in Russia should live well”.
Nekrasov began work on the poem in the first half of the 60s of the XIX century. The manuscript of the first part of the poem was marked by Nekrasov in 1865. In that year the first part of the poem had already been written, although it had evidently begun a few years earlier. The mention in the first part of the exiled Poles (chapter "Landowner") allows us to consider 1863 as a date before which this chapter could not be written, since the suppression of the uprising in Poland dates back to 1863-1864.
However, the first sketches for the poem could have appeared earlier. An indication of this is contained, for example, in the memoirs of G. Potanin, who, describing his visit to Nekrasov’s apartment in the autumn of 1860, conveys the following words of the poet: poem "To whom in Russia it is good to live". She did not appear in print for a long time after that.
Thus, it can be assumed that some images and episodes of the future poem, the material for which was collected over many years, arose in the creative imagination of the poet and were partially embodied in verses earlier than 1865, which dated the manuscript of the first part of the poem.
Nekrasov began to continue his work only in the 70s, after a seven-year break. The second, third and fourth parts of the poem follow one after another at short intervals: "Last Child" was created in 1872, "Peasant Woman" - in July-August 1873, "Feast - for the whole world" - in the autumn of 1876.
The publication of the poem Nekrasov began shortly after the completion of work on the first part. Already in the January book of Sovremennik for 1866, the prologue of the poem appeared. The printing of the first part lasted for four years. Fearing to shake the already precarious position of Sovremennik, Nekrasov refrained from publishing the subsequent chapters of the first part of the poem.
Nekrasov was afraid of censorship persecution, which began immediately after the release of the first chapter of the poem ("Pop"), published in 1868 in the first issue of the new Nekrasov magazine "Domestic Notes". Censor A. Lebedev gave the following description of this chapter: “In the aforementioned poem, like his other works, Nekrasov remained true to his direction; in it, he tries to present the gloomy and sad side of the Russian person with his grief and material shortcomings ... in it there are ... places that are sharp in their indecency. The censorship committee, although it allowed the book “Notes of the Fatherland” to be printed, nevertheless sent a disapproving opinion about the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” to the highest censorship authority.
The subsequent chapters of the first part of the poem were published in the February issues of Notes of the Fatherland for 1869 (Country Fair and Drunken Night) and 1870 (Happy and Landowner). The entire first part of the poem appeared in print only eight years after it was written.
The publication of The Last One (Notes of the Fatherland, 1873, No. 2) provoked new, even greater cavils from the censors, who believed that this part of the poem "is distinguished ... by the extreme disgrace of its content ... is in the nature of a libel for the entire nobility."
The next part of the poem, "Peasant Woman", created by Nekrasov in the summer of 1873, was published in the winter of 1874 in the January book "Notes of the Fatherland".
Nekrasov never saw a separate edition of the poem during his lifetime.
IN Last year Nekrasov's life, having returned seriously ill from the Crimea, where he had basically completed the fourth part of the poem - "Feast - for the whole world", with amazing energy and perseverance entered into combat with censorship, hoping to print "Feast ...". This part of the poem was especially virulently attacked by the censors. The censor wrote that he finds “the whole poem“ Feast for the whole world ”is extremely harmful in its content, since it can arouse hostile feelings between the two estates, and that it is especially insulting to the nobility, who so recently enjoyed landlord rights ... ".
However, Nekrasov did not stop fighting censorship. Bedridden by illness, he stubbornly continued to seek the publication of "The Feast ...". He alters the text, shortens it, crosses it out. “Here it is, our craft as a writer,” complained Nekrasov. - When I started my literary activity and wrote his first thing, then immediately met with scissors; 37 years have passed since then, and here I am, dying, writing my last work, and again I encounter the same scissors! Having “spoiled” the text of the fourth part of the poem (as the poet called the alteration of the work for the sake of censorship), Nekrasov counted on permission. However, "Feast - for the whole world" was again banned. “Unfortunately,” recalled Saltykov-Shchedrin, “it’s almost useless to bother: everything is so full of hatred and threats that it’s hard to approach even from a distance.” But even after that, Nekrasov still did not lay down his arms and decided to “approach”, as a last resort, the head of the Main Directorate for Censorship V. Grigoriev, who, back in the spring of 1876, promised him “his personal intercession” and, according to rumors, reached through F. Dostoevsky, allegedly considered "Feast - for the whole world" "quite possible for publication."
Nekrasov intended to bypass censorship altogether, with the permission of the tsar himself. For this, the poet wanted to use his acquaintance with the Minister of the Court, Count Adlerberg, and also resort to the mediation of S. Botkin, who was at that time the court physician (Botkin, who treated Nekrasov, was dedicated to "Feast - for the whole world"). Obviously, it was precisely for this case that Nekrasov inserted into the text of the poem “with gnashing of teeth” the well-known lines dedicated to the tsar “Glory to the people who gave freedom!”. We do not know whether Nekrasov took real steps in this direction or abandoned his intention, realizing the futility of the hassle.
“Feast - for the whole world” remained under a censorship ban until 1881, when it appeared in the second book of “Notes of the Fatherland”, albeit with large reductions and distortions: the songs “Merry”, “Corvee”, “Soldier”, “ There is an oak deck ... ”and others. Most of the excerpts from The Feast - for the Whole World, thrown out by censorship, were first made public only in 1908, and the entire poem, in an uncensored edition, was published in 1920 by K. I. Chukovsky.
The poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” in its unfinished form consists of four separate parts, arranged in the following order, according to the time of their writing: part one, consisting of a prologue and five chapters; "The Last"; "Peasant Woman", consisting of a prologue and eight chapters; "Feast - for the whole world."
It can be seen from Nekrasov's papers that, according to the plan for the further development of the poem, at least three more chapters or parts were supposed to be created. In one of them, tentatively named by Nekrasov "Smertushka", it was supposed to be about the stay of seven peasants on the Sheksna River, where they fall in the midst of an indiscriminate death of cattle from anthrax, about their meeting with an official. Quoting several verses from the future chapter, Nekrasov writes: “This is a song from the new chapter “Who is it good to live in Russia.” The poet began collecting materials for this chapter in the summer of 1873. However, it remained unwritten. Only a few prose and poetic drafts have survived.
It is also known about the poet's intention to tell about the arrival of the peasants in St. Petersburg, where they had to seek access to the minister, and to describe their meeting with the tsar on a bear hunt.
In the last lifetime edition of “Poems” by N. A. Nekrasov (1873-1874), “Who should live well in Russia” is printed in the following form: “Prologue; Part One" (1865); "Last Child" (From the second part of "Who Lives Well in Russia") (1872); “Peasant Woman” (From the third part of “Who Lives Well in Russia”) (1873). Does the order of the arrangement of the parts of “Who Lives Well in Russia” in the 1873 edition correspond to the author’s will?
The plot and structure of the poem
Nekrasov assumed that the poem would have seven or eight parts, but managed to write only four, which, perhaps, did not follow one after another.
Part one
The only one has no name. It was written shortly after the abolition of serfdom ().
Prologue
"In what year - count,
In what land - guess
On the pillar path
Seven men came together ... "
They got into an argument:
Who has fun
Feel free in Russia?
They offered six answers to this question:
- Roman: landowner
- Demyan: to an official
- Gubin brothers - Ivan and Mitrodor: merchant;
- Pahom (old man): to the minister
The peasants decide not to return home until they find the right answer. They find a self-assembled tablecloth that will feed them and set off on their journey.
Peasant woman (from the third part)
Last (from the second part)
Feast - for the whole world (from the second part)
see also
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This article or section needs revision. Please improve the article in accordance with the rules for writing articles. Poem ... Wikipedia
POEM- (Greek póiēma, from poiéō - I do, I create), a large poetic work with a narrative or lyrical plot. P. is also called the ancient and medieval epic (see also Epos), nameless and author's, which was composed either ... ... Literary Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (Greek póiema) a large poetic work with a narrative or lyrical plot. P. is also called the ancient and medieval epic (See Epic) (see also Epos), nameless and authorial, which was composed either through ... ...
Poet; was born on November 22, 1821 in a small Jewish town in the Vinnitsa district of the Podolsk province, where at that time he quartered an army regiment in which his father Alexei Sergeevich Nekrasov served. A. S. belonged to the impoverished noble ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia
I. INTRODUCTION II. RUSSIAN ORAL POETRY A. Periodization of the history of oral poetry B. Development of ancient oral poetry 1. Ancient origins of oral poetry. Oral poetry ancient Russia from the X to the middle of the XVI century. 2. Oral poetry from the middle of the XVI to the end ... ... Literary Encyclopedia
Nikolai Alekseevich (1821-1877) the most prominent Russian revolutionary democratic poet. R. December 4, 1821 in the family of a wealthy landowner. He spent his childhood in the Greshnevo estate of the Yaroslavl province. in an exceptionally difficult situation of the brutal reprisals of his father with ... Literary Encyclopedia
RSFSR. I. General Information The RSFSR was formed on October 25 (November 7), 1917. It borders in the northwest on Norway and Finland, in the west on Poland, in the southeast on China, the MPR, and the DPRK, as well as on the union republics that are part of to the USSR: to the west with ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Year of writing:
1877
Reading time:
Description of the work:
The widely known poem Who Lives Well in Russia was written in 1877 by the Russian writer Nikolai Nekrasov. It took many years to create it - Nekrasov worked on the poem from 1863-1877. It is interesting that some ideas and thoughts arose from Nekrasov back in the 50s. He thought to capture in the poem Whom in Russia to live well as much as possible everything that he knew about the people and heard from the lips of people.
Read below summary poems To whom it is good to live in Russia.
One day, seven men converge on the high road - recent serfs, and now temporarily liable "from adjacent villages - Zaplatova, Dyryavin, Razutov, Znobishina, Gorelova, Neyolova, Neurozhayka, too." Instead of going their own way, the peasants start a dispute about who in Russia lives happily and freely. Each of them judges in his own way who is the main lucky man in Russia: a landowner, an official, a priest, a merchant, a noble boyar, a minister of sovereigns or a tsar.
During the argument, they do not notice that they gave a detour of thirty miles. Seeing that it is too late to return home, the men make a fire and continue to argue over vodka - which, of course, little by little turns into a fight. But even a fight does not help to resolve the issue that worries the men.
The solution is found unexpectedly: one of the peasants, Pahom, catches a warbler chick, and in order to free the chick, the warbler tells the peasants where they can find a self-assembled tablecloth. Now the peasants are provided with bread, vodka, cucumbers, kvass, tea - in a word, everything they need for a long journey. And besides, the self-assembled tablecloth will repair and wash their clothes! Having received all these benefits, the peasants give a vow to find out "who lives happily, freely in Russia."
The first possible "lucky man" they met along the way is a priest. (It was not for the oncoming soldiers and beggars to ask about happiness!) But the priest's answer to the question of whether his life is sweet disappoints the peasants. They agree with the priest that happiness lies in peace, wealth and honor. But the pop does not possess any of these benefits. In haymaking, in stubble, in a dead autumn night, in severe frost, he must go where there are sick, dying and being born. And every time his soul hurts at the sight of grave sobs and orphan sorrow - so that his hand does not rise to take copper nickels - a miserable reward for the demand. The landlords, who formerly lived in family estates and got married here, baptized children, buried the dead, are now scattered not only in Russia, but also in distant foreign land; there is no hope for their reward. Well, the peasants themselves know what honor the priest is: they feel embarrassed when the priest blames obscene songs and insults against priests.
Realizing that the Russian pop is not among the lucky ones, the peasants go to the festive fair in the trading village of Kuzminskoye to ask the people there about happiness. In a rich and dirty village there are two churches, a tightly boarded-up house with the inscription "school", a paramedic's hut, a dirty hotel. But most of all in the village of drinking establishments, in each of which they barely manage to cope with the thirsty. Old man Vavila cannot buy his granddaughter goat's shoes, because he drank himself to a penny. It’s good that Pavlusha Veretennikov, a lover of Russian songs, whom everyone calls “master” for some reason, buys a treasured gift for him.
Wandering peasants watch the farcical Petrushka, watch how the officers pick up book goods - but by no means Belinsky and Gogol, but portraits of fat generals unknown to anyone and works about "my lord stupid." They also see how a busy trading day ends: rampant drunkenness, fights on the way home. However, the peasants are indignant at Pavlusha Veretennikov's attempt to measure the peasant by the master's measure. In their opinion, it is impossible for a sober person to live in Russia: he will not endure either overwork or peasant misfortune; without drinking, bloody rain would have poured out of the angry peasant soul. These words are confirmed by Yakim Nagoi from the village of Bosovo - one of those who "work to death, drink half to death." Yakim believes that only pigs walk the earth and do not see the sky for a century. During a fire, he himself did not save money accumulated over a lifetime, but useless and beloved pictures that hung in the hut; he is sure that with the cessation of drunkenness, great sadness will come to Russia.
Wandering men do not lose hope of finding people who live well in Russia. But even for the promise to give water to the lucky ones for free, they fail to find those. For the sake of a gratuitous drink, both an overworked worker, and a former courtyard stricken with paralysis, who for forty years licked the master's plates with the best French truffle, and even ragged beggars are ready to declare themselves lucky.
Finally, someone tells them the story of Ermil Girin, a steward in the estate of Prince Yurlov, who has earned universal respect for his justice and honesty. When Girin needed money to buy the mill, the peasants lent it to him without even asking for a receipt. But Yermil is now unhappy: after the peasant revolt, he is in jail.
About the misfortune that befell the nobles after the peasant reform, the ruddy sixty-year-old landowner Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev tells the peasant wanderers. He recalls how in the old days everything amused the master: villages, forests, fields, serf actors, musicians, hunters, who belonged undividedly to him. Obolt-Obolduev tells with tenderness how, on the twelfth holidays, he invited his serfs to pray in the manor's house - despite the fact that after that they had to drive women from all over the estate to wash the floors.
And although the peasants themselves know that life in serf times was far from the idyll drawn by Obolduev, they nevertheless understand: the great chain of serfdom, having broken, hit both the master, who at once lost his usual way of life, and the peasant.
Desperate to find a happy man among the men, the wanderers decide to ask the women. The surrounding peasants remember that Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina lives in the village of Klin, whom everyone considers lucky. But Matrona herself thinks differently. In confirmation, she tells the wanderers the story of her life.
Before her marriage, Matryona lived in a non-drinking and prosperous peasant family. She married Philip Korchagin, a stove-maker from a foreign village. But the only happy night for her was that night when the groom persuaded Matryona to marry him; then the usual hopeless life of a village woman began. True, her husband loved her and beat her only once, but soon he went to work in St. Petersburg, and Matryona was forced to endure insults in her father-in-law's family. The only one who felt sorry for Matryona was grandfather Saveliy, who lived out his life in the family after hard labor, where he ended up for the murder of the hated German manager. Savely told Matryona what Russian heroism is: a peasant cannot be defeated, because he "bends, but does not break."
The birth of the first-born Demushka brightened up the life of Matryona. But soon her mother-in-law forbade her to take the child into the field, and old grandfather Savely did not follow the baby and fed him to the pigs. In front of Matryona, the judges who arrived from the city performed an autopsy on her child. Matryona could not forget her first child, although after she had five sons. One of them, the shepherd Fedot, once allowed a she-wolf to carry away a sheep. Matrena took upon herself the punishment assigned to her son. Then, being pregnant with her son Liodor, she was forced to go to the city to seek justice: her husband, bypassing the laws, was taken to the soldiers. Matryona was then helped by the governor Elena Alexandrovna, for whom the whole family is now praying.
By all peasant standards, the life of Matryona Korchagina can be considered happy. But it is impossible to tell about the invisible spiritual storm that passed through this woman - just like about unrequited mortal insults, and about the blood of the firstborn. Matrena Timofeevna is convinced that a Russian peasant woman cannot be happy at all, because the keys to her happiness and free will are lost from God himself.
In the midst of haymaking, wanderers come to the Volga. Here they witness a strange scene. A noble family swims up to the shore in three boats. The mowers, who have just sat down to rest, immediately jump up to show the old master their zeal. It turns out that the peasants of the village of Vakhlachina help the heirs to hide the abolition of serfdom from the landowner Utyatin, who has lost his mind. For this, the relatives of the Last Duck-Duck promise the peasants floodplain meadows. But after the long-awaited death of the Afterlife, the heirs forget their promises, and the whole peasant performance turns out to be in vain.
Here, near the village of Vakhlachin, wanderers listen to peasant songs - corvée, hungry, soldier's, salty - and stories about serf times. One of these stories is about the serf of the exemplary Jacob the faithful. Yakov's only joy was to please his master, the petty landowner Polivanov. Samodur Polivanov, in gratitude, beat Yakov in the teeth with his heel, which aroused even greater love in the lackey's soul. By old age, Polivanov lost his legs, and Yakov began to follow him as if he were a child. But when Yakov's nephew, Grisha, decided to marry the serf beauty Arisha, out of jealousy, Polivanov sent the guy to the recruits. Yakov began to drink, but soon returned to the master. And yet he managed to take revenge on Polivanov - the only way available to him, in a lackey way. Having brought the master into the forest, Yakov hanged himself right above him on a pine tree. Polivanov spent the night under the corpse of his faithful serf, driving away birds and wolves with groans of horror.
Another story - about two great sinners - is told to the peasants by God's wanderer Iona Lyapushkin. The Lord awakened the conscience of the ataman of the robbers Kudeyar. The robber prayed for sins for a long time, but all of them were released to him only after he killed the cruel Pan Glukhovsky in a surge of anger.
Wandering men also listen to the story of another sinner - Gleb the elder, who hid the last will of the late widower admiral for money, who decided to free his peasants.
But not only wandering peasants think about the happiness of the people. The son of a sacristan, seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov, lives in Vakhlachin. In his heart, love for the deceased mother merged with love for the whole of Vahlachina. For fifteen years, Grisha knew for sure whom he was ready to give his life, for whom he was ready to die. He thinks of all mysterious Russia as a miserable, abundant, powerful and powerless mother, and expects that the indestructible strength that he feels in his own soul will still be reflected in her. Such strong souls, like those of Grisha Dobrosklonov, the angel of mercy himself calls for an honest path. Fate prepares Grisha "a glorious path, a loud name of the people's intercessor, consumption and Siberia."
If the wanderer men knew what was happening in the soul of Grisha Dobrosklonov, they would surely understand that they could already return to their native roof, because the goal of their journey had been achieved.
In what year - count
In what land - guess
On the pillar path
Seven men came together:
Seven temporarily liable,
tightened province,
County Terpigorev,
empty parish,
From adjacent villages:
Zaplatova, Dyryavina,
Razutova, Znobishina,
Gorelova, Neelova -
Crop failure, too,
Agreed - and argued:
Who has fun
Feel free in Russia?
Roman said: to the landowner,
Demyan said: to the official,
Luke said: ass.
Fat-bellied merchant! -
Gubin brothers said
Ivan and Mitrodor.
Old man Pahom pushed
And he said, looking at the ground:
noble boyar,
Minister of the State.
And Prov said: to the king ...
Man what a bull: vtemyashitsya
In the head what a whim -
Stake her from there
You won’t knock out: they rest,
Everyone is on their own!
Is there such a dispute?
What do passers-by think?
To know that the children found the treasure
And they share...
To each his own
Left the house before noon:
That path led to the forge,
He went to the village of Ivankovo
Call Father Prokofy
Baptize the child.
Pahom honeycombs
Carried to the market in the Great,
And two brothers Gubina
So simple with a halter
Catching a stubborn horse
They went to their own herd.
It's high time for everyone
Return your way -
They are walking side by side!
They walk like they're running
Behind them are gray wolves,
What is further - then sooner.
They go - they perekorya!
They shout - they will not come to their senses!
And time does not wait.
They didn't notice the controversy
As the red sun set
How the evening came.
Probably a whole night
So they went - where not knowing,
When they meet a woman,
Crooked Durandiha,
She did not shout: “Venerable!
Where are you looking at night
Have you thought about going?..”
Asked, laughed
Whipped, witch, gelding
And jumped off...
"Where? .." - exchanged glances
Here are our men
They stand, they are silent, they look down...
The night has long gone
Frequent stars lit up
In high skies
The moon surfaced, the shadows are black
The road was cut
Zealous walkers.
Oh shadows! black shadows!
Who won't you chase?
Who won't you overtake?
Only you, black shadows,
You can not catch - hug!
To the forest, to the path
He looked, was silent Pahom,
I looked - I scattered my mind
And he said at last:
"Well! goblin glorious joke
He played a trick on us!
After all, we are without a little
Thirty miles away!
Home now toss and turn -
We are tired - we will not reach,
Come on, there's nothing to be done.
Let's rest until the sun! .. "
Having dumped the trouble on the devil,
Under the forest along the path
The men sat down.
They lit a fire, formed,
Two ran away for vodka,
And the rest for a while
The glass is made
I pulled the birch bark.
The vodka came soon.
Ripe and snack -
The men are feasting!
Kosushki [Kosushka is an old measure of liquid, approximately 0.31 liters.] drank three
Ate - and argued
Again: who has fun to live,
Feel free in Russia?
Roman shouts: to the landowner,
Demyan shouts: to the official,
Luke yells: ass;
Fat-bellied merchant, -
The Gubin brothers are screaming,
Ivan and Mitrodor;
Pahom shouts: to the brightest
noble boyar,
Minister of the State,
And Prov shouts: to the king!
Taken more than ever
perky men,
Cursing swearing,
No wonder they get stuck
Into each other's hair...
Look - they've got it!
Roman hits Pakhomushka,
Demyan hits Luka.
And two brothers Gubina
They iron Prov hefty, -
And everyone screams!
A booming echo woke up
Went for a walk, a walk,
It went screaming, shouting,
As if to tease
Stubborn men.
King! - heard to the right
Left responds:
Butt! ass! ass!
The whole forest was in turmoil
With flying birds
By swift-footed beasts
And creeping reptiles, -
And a groan, and a roar, and a rumble!
First of all, a gray bunny
From a neighboring bush
Suddenly jumped out, as if tousled,
And off he went!
Behind him are small jackdaws
At the top of the birches raised
Nasty, sharp squeak.
And here at the foam
With fright, a tiny chick
Fell from the nest;
Chirping, crying chiffchaff,
Where is the chick? - will not find!
Then the old cuckoo
I woke up and thought
Someone to cuckoo;
Taken ten times
Yes, it crashed every time
And started again...
Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!
Bread will sting
You choke on an ear -
You won't poop! [The cuckoo stops crowing when the bread is stalked (“choking on an ear,” people say).]
Seven owls flocked,
Admire the carnage
From seven big trees
Laugh, midnighters!
And their eyes are yellow
They burn like burning wax
Fourteen candles!
And the raven, the smart bird,
Ripe, sitting on a tree
At the very fire.
Sitting and praying to hell
To be slammed to death
Someone!
Cow with a bell
What has strayed since the evening
From the herd, I heard a little
Came to the fire, tired
Eyes on men
I listened to crazy speeches
And began, my heart,
Moo, moo, moo!
Silly cow mooing
Small jackdaws squeak.
The boys are screaming,
And the echo echoes everything.
He has one concern -
To tease honest people
Scare guys and women!
Nobody saw him
And everyone has heard
Without a body - but it lives,
Without a tongue - screaming!
Owl - Zamoskvoretskaya
Princess - immediately mooing,
Flying over peasants
Rushing about the ground,
That about the bushes with a wing ...
The fox herself is cunning,
Out of curiosity,
Sneaked up on the men
I listened, I listened
And she walked away, thinking:
"And the devil does not understand them!"
And indeed: the disputants themselves
Hardly knew, remembered -
What are they talking about...
Naming the sides decently
To each other, come to their senses
Finally, the peasants
Drunk from a puddle
Washed, refreshed
Sleep began to roll them ...
In the meantime, a tiny chick,
Little by little, half a sapling,
flying low,
Got to the fire.
Pakhomushka caught him,
He brought it to the fire, looked at it
And he said: "Little bird,
And the nail is up!
I breathe - you roll off the palm of your hand,
Sneeze - roll into the fire,
I click - you will roll dead,
And yet you, little bird,
Stronger than a man!
Wings will get stronger soon
Bye-bye! wherever you want
You will fly there!
Oh you little pichuga!
Give us your wings
We will circle the whole kingdom,
Let's see, let's see
Let's ask and find out:
Who lives happily
Feel free in Russia?
"You don't even need wings,
If only we had bread
Half a pood a day, -
And so we would Mother Russia
They measured it with their feet!” -
Said the sullen Prov.
"Yes, a bucket of vodka," -
Added willing
Before vodka, the Gubin brothers,
Ivan and Mitrodor.
“Yes, in the morning there would be cucumbers
Salty ten, "-
The men joked.
“And at noon would be a jug
Cold kvass."
"And in the evening for a teapot
Hot tea…”
While they were talking
Curled, whirled foam
Above them: listened to everything
And sat by the fire.
Chiviknula, jumped up
Pahomu says:
"Let go of the chick!
For a little chick
I'll give you a big ransom."
– What will you give? -
"Lady's bread
Half a pood a day
I'll give you a bucket of vodka
In the morning I will give cucumbers,
And at noon sour kvass,
And in the evening a seagull!
- And where, little pichuga, -
Gubin brothers asked, -
Find wine and bread
Are you on seven men? -
“Find - you will find yourself.
And I, little pichuga,
I'll tell you how to find it."
- Tell! -
"Go through the woods
Against the thirtieth pillar
A straight verst:
Come to the meadow
Standing in that meadow
Two old pines
Beneath these under the pines
Buried box.
Get her -
That box is magical.
It has a self-assembled tablecloth,
Whenever you wish
Eat, drink!
Quietly just say:
"Hey! self-made tablecloth!
Treat the men!” Opening a wide palm,
He let the chick go.
Let it go - and a tiny chick,
Little by little, half a sapling,
flying low,
Went to the hollow.
Behind him, a foam rose
And on the fly added:
“Look, chur, one!
How much food will take
Womb - then ask
And you can ask for vodka
In day exactly on a bucket.
If you ask more
And one and two - it will be fulfilled
At your request,
And in the third, be in trouble!
And the foam flew away
With my darling chick,
And the men in single file
Reached for the road
Look for the thirtieth pillar.
Found! - silently go
Straight, straight
Through the dense forest,
Every step counts.
And how they measured a mile,
We saw a meadow -
Standing in that meadow
Two old pines...
The peasants dug
Got that box
Opened and found
That tablecloth self-assembled!
They found it and shouted at once:
“Hey, self-assembled tablecloth!
Treat the men!”
Look - the tablecloth unfolded,
Where did they come from
Two strong hands
A bucket of wine was placed
Bread was laid on a mountain
And they hid again.
“But why aren’t there cucumbers?”
"What is not a hot tea?"
“What is there no cold kvass?”
Everything suddenly appeared...
The peasants unbelted
They sat down by the tablecloth.
Went here feast mountain!
Kissing for joy
promise to each other
Forward do not fight in vain,
And it's quite controversial
By reason, by God,
On the honor of the story -
Do not toss and turn in the houses,
Don't see your wives
Not with the little guys
Not with old old people,
As long as the matter is controversial
Solutions will not be found
Until they tell
No matter how it is for sure:
Who lives happily
Feel free in Russia?
Having made such a vow,
In the morning like dead
One of the most famous works Nikolai Nekrasov is considered to be the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia”, which is distinguished not only by its deep philosophical sense and social sharpness, but also bright, original characters - these are seven simple Russian peasants who got together and argued about who "lives freely and cheerfully in Russia." The poem was first published in 1866 in the Sovremennik magazine. The publication of the poem was resumed three years later, but the tsarist censorship, seeing in the content an attack on the autocracy, did not allow it to be published. The poem was published in its entirety only after the revolution in 1917.
The poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” has become the central work in the work of the great Russian poet, this is his ideological and artistic pinnacle, the result of his thoughts and reflections on the fate of the Russian people and the roads leading to his happiness and well-being. These questions worried the poet throughout his life and ran like a red thread through all his literary activity. Work on the poem lasted 14 years (1863-1877) and in order to create this “folk epic”, as the author himself called it, useful and understandable for the common people, Nekrasov made a lot of efforts, although in the end it was never completed (8 chapters were planned, 4 were written). A serious illness, and then the death of Nekrasov, disrupted his plans. The plot incompleteness does not prevent the work from having an acute social character.
Main storyline
The poem was started by Nekrasov in 1863 after the abolition of serfdom, so its content touches on many problems that arose after the Peasant Reform of 1861. There are four chapters in the poem, they are united by a common plot about how seven ordinary men argued about who lives well in Russia and who is truly happy. The plot of the poem, affecting serious philosophical and social problems, built in the form of a journey through Russian villages, their "talking" names perfectly describe the Russian reality of that time: Dyryavin, Razutov, Gorelov, Zaplatov, Neurozhaikin, etc. In the first chapter, called "Prologue", the men meet on a high road and start their own dispute in order to solve it, they are poisoned on a trip to Russia. On the way, arguing men meet a variety of people, these are peasants, and merchants, and landowners, and priests, and beggars, and drunkards, they see a wide variety of pictures from people's lives: funerals, weddings, fairs, elections, etc. .
meeting different people, the peasants ask them the same question: how happy they are, but both the priest and the landowner complain about the deterioration of life after the abolition of serfdom, only a few of all the people they meet at the fair recognize themselves as truly happy.
In the second chapter, entitled "Last Child", wanderers come to the village of Bolshie Vakhlaki, whose inhabitants, after the abolition of serfdom, in order not to upset the old count, continue to pretend to be serfs. Nekrasov shows readers how they were then cruelly deceived and robbed by the count's sons.
The third chapter, entitled "Peasant Woman", describes the search for happiness among women of that time, the wanderers meet with Matryona Korchagina in the village of Klin, she tells them about her long-suffering fate and advises them not to look for happy people among Russian women.
In the fourth chapter, entitled “A Feast for the Whole World”, wandering seekers of truth find themselves at a feast in the village of Valakhchina, where they understand that the questions they ask people about happiness excite all Russian people without exception. The ideological finale of the work is the song "Rus", which originated in the head of the participant in the feast, the son of the parish deacon Grigory Dobrosklonov:
« You are poor
you are abundant
you and almighty
Mother Russia!»
Main characters
The question of who is the main character of the poem remains open, formally these are the men who argued about happiness and decided to go on a trip to Russia to decide who is right, but the poem clearly shows the statement that main character poems - the entire Russian people, perceived as a single whole. The images of wandering men (Roman, Demyan, Luka, the brothers Ivan and Mitrodor Gubin, the old man Pakhom and Prov) are practically not disclosed, their characters are not traced, they act and express themselves as a single organism, while the images of the people they meet, on the contrary, are painted very carefully, with lots of details and nuances.
One of the brightest representatives of a man from the people can be called the son of the parish clerk Grigory Dobrosklonov, who was presented by Nekrasov as people's protector, enlightener and savior. He is one of the key characters and the entire final chapter is given to describe his image. Grisha, like no one else, is close to the people, understands their dreams and aspirations, wants to help them and composes wonderful “good songs” for people that bring joy and hope to others. Through his mouth, the author proclaims his views and beliefs, gives answers to the sharp social and moral questions. Characters such as seminarian Grisha and honest steward Yermil Girin do not seek happiness for themselves, they dream of making all people happy at once and devote their whole lives to this. The main idea of the poem stems from Dobrosklonov's understanding of the very concept of happiness, this feeling can be fully felt only by those who, without reasoning, give their lives for a just cause in the struggle for people's happiness.
The main female character of the poem is Matryona Korchagina, the description of her tragic fate, typical for all Russian women, is devoted to the entire third chapter. Drawing her portrait, Nekrasov admires her straight, proud posture, uncomplicated attire and the amazing beauty of a simple Russian woman (eyes are large, strict, her eyelashes are rich, severe and swarthy). Her whole life is spent in hard peasant work, she has to endure the beatings of her husband and the arrogant encroachments of the manager, she was destined to survive the tragic death of her firstborn, hunger and deprivation. She lives only for the sake of her children, without hesitation accepts punishment with rods for her delinquent son. The author admires the power of her maternal love, endurance and strong character, sincerely pities her and sympathizes with all Russian women, for the fate of Matryona is the fate of all peasant women of that time, suffering from lawlessness, want, religious fanaticism and superstition, lack of qualified medical care.
The poem also describes the images of landlords, their wives and sons (princes, nobles), depicts landowner servants (lackeys, servants, domestic servants), priests and other clergymen, good governors and cruel German managers, artists, soldiers, wanderers, a huge number minor characters, which give the folk lyrical-epic poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” that unique polyphony and epic breadth that make this work a real masterpiece and the pinnacle of all Nekrasov's literary work.
Analysis of the poem
The problems raised in the work are diverse and complex, they affect the lives of various strata of society, this is a difficult transition to a new way of life, problems of drunkenness, poverty, obscurantism, greed, cruelty, oppression, the desire to change something, etc.
However, the key problem of this work is still the search for simple human happiness, which each of the characters understands in his own way. For example, rich people, such as priests or landowners, think only about their own well-being, this is happiness for them, poorer people, such as ordinary peasants, are happy and most simple things: stay alive after a bear attack, survive a beating at work, etc.
The main idea of the poem is that the Russian people deserve to be happy, they deserve it with their suffering, blood and sweat. Nekrasov was convinced that it is necessary to fight for one's happiness and it is not enough to make one person happy, because this will not solve the entire global problem as a whole, the poem calls for thinking and striving for happiness for everyone without exception.
Structural and compositional features
The compositional form of the work is distinguished by its originality; it is built in accordance with the laws of the classical epic, i.e. each chapter can exist autonomously, and all together they represent a single whole work with a large number of characters and storylines.
The poem, according to the author himself, belongs to the folk epic genre, it is written in iambic trimeter unrhymed, at the end of each line after the stressed syllables there are two unstressed syllables (the use of dactylic casula), in some places to emphasize the folklore style of the work there is iambic tetrameter.
In order for the poem to be understandable to a common person, many common words and expressions are used in it: a village, a log, a fairground, an empty dance, etc. The poem contains a large number of different samples of folk poetic creativity, these are fairy tales, epics, and various proverbs and sayings, folk songs of various genres. The language of the work is stylized by the author in the form folk song to improve ease of perception, at that time the use of folklore was considered the best way for the intelligentsia to communicate with the common people.
In the poem, the author used such means of artistic expression as epithets (“the sun is red”, “shadows are black”, the heart is free”, “poor people”), comparisons (“jumped out like a disheveled one”, “like dead men fell asleep”), metaphors ( “the earth is lying”, “the chiffchaff is crying”, “the village is seething”). There is also a place for irony and sarcasm, various stylistic figures are used, such as appeals: “Hey, uncle!”, “Oh people, Russian people!”, Various exclamations “Chu!”, “Eh, Eh!” etc.
The poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" is the highest example of a work made in the folk style of the entire literary heritage of Nekrasov. The elements and images of Russian folklore used by the poet give the work a bright originality, colorfulness and rich national color. What the search for happiness Nekrasov did main theme the poem is not at all accidental, because the whole Russian people have been searching for it for many thousands of years, this is reflected in his fairy tales, epics, legends, songs and various other folklore sources as the search for treasure, a happy land, priceless treasure. The theme of this work expressed the most cherished desire of the Russian people throughout its existence - to live happily in a society where justice and equality rule.
Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov's poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" has its own unique feature. All the names of the villages and the names of the heroes clearly reflect the essence of what is happening. In the first chapter, the reader can get acquainted with seven men from the villages of Zaplatovo, Dyryaevo, Razutovo, Znobishino, Gorelovo, Neyolovo, and Neurozhayko, who are arguing about who lives well in Russia, and in no way cannot come to an agreement. No one is even going to yield to another ... So unusually begins the work that Nikolai Nekrasov conceived in order, as he writes, "to present in a coherent story everything that he knows about the people, everything that happened to be heard from his lips ..."
The history of the creation of the poem
Nikolai Nekrasov began working on his work in the early 1860s and finished the first part five years later. The prologue was published in the January issue of the Sovremennik magazine for 1866. Then painstaking work began on the second part, which was called "Last Child" and was published in 1972. The third part, entitled "Peasant Woman", was released in 1973, and the fourth, "A Feast for the Whole World" - in the fall of 1976, that is, three years later. It is a pity that the author of the legendary epic did not manage to fully complete his plan - the writing of the poem was interrupted by an untimely death - in 1877. However, even after 140 years, this work remains important for people, it is read and studied by both children and adults. The poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" is included in the compulsory school curriculum.
Part 1. Prologue: who is the happiest in Russia
So, the prologue tells how seven men meet on a high road, and then go on a journey to find a happy man. To whom Russia lives freely, happily and cheerfully - this is the main question of curious travelers. Each, arguing with the other, believes that he is right. Roman screams that the most good life with the landowner, Demyan claims that the official lives wonderfully, Luka proves that, after all, the priest, the rest also express their opinion: “the noble boyar”, “the fat-bellied merchant”, “the minister of the sovereign” or the tsar.
Such a disagreement leads to a ridiculous fight, which is observed by birds and animals. It is interesting to read how the author displays their surprise at what is happening. Even the cow “came to the fire, stared at the peasants, listened to crazy speeches and began, cordially, to moo, moo, moo! ..”
At last, having kneaded each other's sides, the peasants came to their senses. They saw a tiny warbler chick flying up to the fire, and Pahom took it in his hands. The travelers began to envy the little bird that could fly wherever it wanted. They talked about what everyone wants, when suddenly ... the bird spoke in a human voice, asking to release the chick and promising a large ransom for it.
The bird showed the peasants the way to where the real tablecloth was buried. Blimey! Now you can definitely live, not grieve. But the quick-witted wanderers also asked that their clothes not wear out. “And this will be done by a self-assembled tablecloth,” said the warbler. And she kept her promise.
The life of the peasants began to be full and cheerful. But they have not yet resolved the main question: who still lives well in Russia. And friends decided not to return to their families until they find the answer to it.
Chapter 1. Pop
On the way, the peasants met the priest and, bowing low, asked him to answer “in conscience, without laughter and without cunning,” whether he really lives well in Russia. What the pop said dispelled the ideas of the seven curious about his happy life. No matter how severe the circumstances are - a dead autumn night, or a severe frost, or a spring flood - the priest has to go where he is called, without arguing or contradicting. The work is not easy, besides, the groans of people leaving for another world, the weeping of orphans and the sobs of widows completely upset the peace of the priest's soul. And only outwardly it seems that pop is held in high esteem. In fact, he is often the target of ridicule by the common people.
Chapter 2
Further, the road leads purposeful wanderers to other villages, which for some reason turn out to be empty. The reason is that all the people are at the fair, in the village of Kuzminskoe. And it was decided to go there to ask people about happiness.
The life of the village evoked not very pleasant feelings among the peasants: there were a lot of drunks around, everywhere it was dirty, dull, uncomfortable. Books are also sold at the fair, but low-quality books, Belinsky and Gogol are not to be found here.
By evening, everyone becomes so drunk that it seems that even the church with the bell tower is shaking.
Chapter 3
At night, the men are on their way again. They hear the conversations of drunk people. Suddenly, attention is attracted by Pavlush Veretennikov, who makes notes in a notebook. He collects peasant songs and sayings, as well as their stories. After everything that has been said is captured on paper, Veretennikov begins to reproach the assembled people for drunkenness, to which he hears objections: “The peasant drinks mainly because he is in grief, and therefore it is impossible, even a sin, to reproach for it.
Chapter 4
Men do not deviate from their goal - by all means to find a happy person. They promise to reward with a bucket of vodka the one who tells that it is he who lives freely and cheerfully in Russia. Drinkers peck at such a "tempting" offer. But no matter how hard they try to colorfully paint the gloomy everyday life of those who want to get drunk for free, nothing comes out of them. Stories of an old woman who has born up to a thousand turnips, a sexton rejoicing when they pour him a pigtail; the paralyzed former courtyard, who for forty years licked the master's plates with the best French truffle, does not impress the stubborn seekers of happiness on Russian soil.
Chapter 5
Maybe luck will smile on them here - the searchers assumed a happy Russian person, having met the landowner Gavrila Afanasich Obolt-Obolduev on the road. At first he was frightened, thinking that he saw the robbers, but after learning about the unusual desire of the seven men who blocked his path, he calmed down, laughed and told his story.
Maybe before the landowner considered himself happy, but not now. Indeed, in the old days, Gavriil Afanasyevich was the owner of the entire district, a whole regiment of servants and arranged holidays with theatrical performances and dances. Even the peasants did not hesitate to invite the peasants to pray in the manor house on holidays. Now everything has changed: the family estate of Obolt-Obolduev was sold for debts, because, left without peasants who knew how to cultivate the land, the landowner, who was not used to working, suffered heavy losses, which led to a deplorable outcome.
Part 2
The next day, the travelers went to the banks of the Volga, where they saw a large hay meadow. Before they had time to talk with the locals, they noticed three boats at the pier. It turns out that this is a noble family: two gentlemen with their wives, their children, servants and a gray-haired old gentleman named Utyatin. Everything in this family, to the surprise of travelers, occurs according to such a scenario, as if there was no abolition of serfdom. It turns out that Utyatin was very angry when he found out that the peasants were given freedom and came down with a stroke, threatening to deprive his sons of their inheritance. To prevent this from happening, they came up with a cunning plan: they persuaded the peasants to play along with the landowner, posing as serfs. As a reward, they promised the best meadows after the death of the master.
Utyatin, hearing that the peasants were staying with him, perked up, and the comedy began. Some even liked the role of serfs, but Agap Petrov could not come to terms with the shameful fate and told the landowner everything to his face. For this, the prince sentenced him to flogging. The peasants also played a role here: they took the “rebellious” to the stable, put wine in front of him and asked him to shout louder, for appearances. Alas, Agap could not bear such humiliation, got very drunk and died the same night.
Further, the Last (Prince Utyatin) arranges a feast, where, barely moving his tongue, he delivers a speech about the advantages and benefits of serfdom. After that, he lies down in the boat and gives up the spirit. Everyone is glad that they finally got rid of the old tyrant, however, the heirs are not even going to fulfill their promise to those who played the role of serfs. The hopes of the peasants were not justified: no one gave them meadows.
Part 3. Peasant woman.
No longer hoping to find a happy man among the men, the wanderers decided to ask the women. And from the lips of a peasant woman named Korchagina Matryona Timofeevna they hear a very sad and, one might say, scary story. Only in her parents' house she was happy, and then, when she married Philip, a ruddy and strong guy, a hard life began. Love did not last long, because the husband went to work, leaving his young wife with his family. Matryona works tirelessly and sees no support from anyone except old Saveliy, who lives a century after hard labor, which lasted twenty years. Only one joy appears in her difficult fate - the son of Demushka. But suddenly a terrible misfortune befell the woman: it is impossible to even imagine what happened to the child because the mother-in-law did not allow her daughter-in-law to take him into the field with her. Due to an oversight of the boy's grandfather, the pigs eat him. What grief for a mother! She mourns Demushka all the time, although other children were born in the family. For their sake, a woman sacrifices herself, for example, she takes upon herself the punishment when they want to flog her son Fedot for a sheep that was carried away by wolves. When Matryona was carrying another son, Lidor, in her womb, her husband was unfairly taken into the army, and his wife had to go to the city to look for the truth. It’s good that the governor’s wife, Elena Alexandrovna, helped her then. By the way, in the waiting room Matryona gave birth to a son.
Yes, the life of the one who was called “lucky” in the village was not easy: she constantly had to fight for herself, for her children, and for her husband.
Part 4. A feast for the whole world.
At the end of the village of Valakhchina, a feast was held, where everyone was gathered: the wandering peasants, and Vlas the headman, and Klim Yakovlevich. Among the celebrating - two seminarians, simple, kind guys - Savvushka and Grisha Dobrosklonov. They sing funny songs and tell different stories. They do it because ordinary people ask for it. From the age of fifteen, Grisha knows for sure that he will devote his life to the happiness of the Russian people. He sings a song about a great and mighty country called Russia. Isn't this the lucky one that the travelers were so stubbornly looking for? After all, he clearly sees the purpose of his life - in serving the disadvantaged people. Unfortunately, Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov died untimely, before he had time to finish the poem (according to the author's plan, the men were to go to St. Petersburg). But the reflections of the seven wanderers coincide with the thought of Dobrosklonov, who thinks that every peasant should live freely and cheerfully in Russia. This was the main intention of the author.
The poem by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov became legendary, a symbol of the struggle for the happy everyday life of ordinary people, as well as the result of the author's reflections on the fate of the peasantry.
